China's industrial profit up 25.4% in '11

BEIJING - China's industrial enterprises saw their profits increase 25.4 percent year-on-year to reach 5.45 trillion yuan ($863.68 billion) in 2011, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday.

The growth rate rebounded from 24.4 percent in the first 11 months of last year, NBS figures showed.

But it marked a gradual downshift from 32 percent year-on-year growth seen during the first quarter, 28.7 percent during the first half, and 27 percent in the first three quarters.

In December alone, industrial profits expanded 31.5 percent from a year earlier to 790.7 billion yuan, the NBS said.

The NBS compiled the figures using data collected from a pool of industrial businesses with at least 20 million yuan in annual sales revenues each.

Among 39 industries surveyed, 37 sectors reported year-on-year profit growth in 2011, while two saw profit decline.

Profits of the petroleum and natural gas extraction businesses jumped 44.8 percent year-on-year, and those of the ferrous metal mining sector surged 53 percent.

Meanwhile, profits of the oil refining, coking and nuclear-fuel processing sector plunged 92.8 percent year-on-year. Electricity and heating power producers and suppliers saw profits down 11 percent.

Profits of private businesses rose the most last year, up 46 percent year-on-year, followed by collectively-owned enterprises (34 percent) and equity-holding companies (31.2 percent).